There's a work-out called ZUMBA which is the "fusion" of Latin and International music -- that is becoming quite the rage -- and, has become part of the workout regiment for Muffet McGraw's Fighting Irish! Here's a link to a video of the girls hard at work (you'll find the video on the lower right hand portion of the web page, just scroll down) -- and a link to the ZUMBA website, just in case you want to try this at home!
The Davey O'Brien Award, given annually to the top college QB in America, is conducting an online vote for the first time this year. At present, all 120 projected starting QB's of NCAA FBS teams are on the ballot. Through the fan vote -- which counts for 5% of the total -- and the vote of the O'Brien Committee, 16 QB's will be named a "SEMI-FINALIST" which will be announced on October 25th. No Notre Dame QB has ever won this award -- it's time to change that!!! Click on this link to vote for Dayne!
The University of Notre Dame was picked as one of the fifteen schools "Worth the Price" in higher education in the book “Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids – and What We Can Do About It.” The book written by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus takes you on a tour of what’s horrible about today’s colleges. Hacker, a professor at Queens College, and Dreifus, who teaches at Columbia University, outline how colleges lost track of their primary mission: teaching college students. Instead, many professors negotiate to teach as little as possible, while the colleges lure students with expensive sports facilities, dorms and dining choices, pushing a four-year education at a private school to a quarter million dollars. Here's the list of the fifteen schools they believe are worth the price: Notre Dame, Harvard, Emory, Brandeis, Marquette, Hofstra, Florida Gulf Coast, Evergreen State, Western Oregon, University of Maryland - Baltimore County, Raritan Valley, Cooper Union, Linfield College, University of Mississippi and Arizona State. I noticed Dreifus didn't pick Columbia -- and Hacker didn't pick Queens College...they both must have "tenure."
Teddy Hodges (Salinas, KS) is back with the Notre Dame Fencing Team - less than one year after his heart transplant. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT! 365 days ago, Hodges was clinging on to life, after a virus attacked his heart causing two heart attacks in consecutive days. This was the news report on the www.fencing.net blog a year ago: Teddy Hodges, a senor foil fencer on the Notre Dame varsity, is in a Kansas City hospital. He is suffering from a viral infection of the heart. He had two heart attacks in the last two days. He is on a machine that keeps his heart and lungs working while they rest the heart and decide on further treatment. He can open his eyes and move his arms and legs. Well, that further treatment was a heart transplant -- which took place on September 16, 2009. Yesterday, nine days short of the one-year anniversary of his new heart, Teddy Hodges joined his Irish teammates at practice. Here are a few news reports on Hodges return for his senior year at Notre Dame -- what a story:
This Saturday -- is "Wearin' of the Green" day at Notre Dame Stadium! Show you're behind Coach Kelly and the Fighting Irish by turning Notre Dame Stadium into a SEA OF GREEN @ Saturday's game against Michigan. Whether it's a green shirt, jacket or body paint -- it will all look the same from the field and on television sets all over the world. We need to extend the "GREEN OUT" beyond the Notre Dame student section!
Here's a photo of Taylor Swift, the country pop star, with some of her fans here at Notre Dame. The photo was taken last year when Swift visited Notre Dame with her brother Austin -- when he was a high school senior looking for a college to attend. (One of our visitors at ND GO IRISH BLOG was quick to point out when the photo was taken -- THANK YOU!) Swift was at Notre Dame this weekend to visit her brother Austin (a Notre Dame freshman) and to see a Notre Dame football game. Apparently, Taylor wanted to sit in the Notre Dame student section, but Notre Dame officials talked her out of that idea and she watched the game from the sidelines. Forbes magazine recently ranked the twenty-year old Swift as the 12th most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million in the past year.
Having been a resident of the State of Michigan for most of my life -- but an Irish fan since BIRTH -- I've always looked forward to these two weeks of the season when we play Michigan and Michigan State. Now, I must admit -- I like these two weeks a whole lot better when we win! So, to get us in the right frame of mind for these next two Saturdays -- I'm going to dig up some classic YOUTUBE video of great moments in these two games. First up, the 1980 game when Touchdown Jesus "stopped the wind" and little known Harry Oliver -- all "five foot nuthin" -- kicked a 51-yard field goal in the final seconds to give the Irish a 29-27 win over Michigan. Here's the link to the last minute of the game -- with a bonus radio call of the kick from Tony Roberts. A MUST WATCH TODAY:
NBC Sports just gave every Notre Dame fan in the world a reason to buy an iPad. An iPad app for Notre Dame Football. What's the line... "I have an app for that" -- well, Irish fans this may be the app of the year! The app offers a pretty thorough set of ways to follow the team’s season, including a complete schedule, news, live scores, video clips including recaps and interviews, team stats, roster, photo galleries, Twitter updates and a display of the “Inside the Irish” blog. Of course, the app also allows you to pay for live streaming of home game for either $5.99 for the entire season or $1.99 per game. The two coolest features come in the form of notifications. On game day, you can set the app to remind you of the game – by playing the Notre Dame fight song. Then during the game, the app offers push notifications every time there is a score. Now, if we can talk NBC into "giving away" iPads as a promotion for Notre Dame fans -- we may have something here! Here's a link to more information on how to download the app:
Some Notre Dame fans online are suggesting a "GREEN OUT" at Notre Dame Stadium for this Saturday's game against Michigan. I believe it's a great idea and I'm going to be asking my gang of sixteen -- who are all sitting in the Michigan section by the way -- to WEAR GREEN ON SATURDAY! So, whether it's green clothing or green body paint -- GET YOUR "KELLY" GREEN ON this Saturday!
The Notre Dame vs. Purdue football game Saturday's preliminary rating was up 77 percent from last year's opener. NBC said Sunday that the Fighting Irish's 23-12 win over Purdue drew a 2.3 overnight rating and 6 share. The 2009 opener against Nevada earned a 1.3 rating and 3 share. A big thank-you to Jim Conway, Jr. '69 -- for sending me an email alerting me to this fact. Here's a link to the ESPN Blog story:
If you were at the game Saturday and like me -- forgot to set the DVR to record the game. Or, you had other conflicts and were unable to see the game on TV -- you still have options! NBC Sports' website has the entire broadcast archived for you to watch at your leisure. Photo courtesy of South Bend Tribune. Here's the link:
University of Notre Dame QB, Dayne Crist, made his Irish debut this Saturday against the Purdue Boilermakers. Crist went 19 for 26 and 205 yards -- and a TD pass. Here is Dayne's postgame comments:
For those of you fortunate enough to be on campus for a Football Saturday at Notre Dame -- and you're looking for something to do before kick-off -- you might just want to stroll over to the Purcell Pavillion and catch the Irish basketball team in action. It's become tradition that the Men's and Women's Notre Dame basketball teams play "pick up" games on either the arena floor or THE PIT -- their practice court in the basement of the Joyce Center on Saturday mornings. This past Saturday we found the Irish Men's team playing in the "Pit" because the arena floor had a large stage occupying it. And, while we were there we saw former Irish stars; Chris Quinn (New Jersey Nets) and Luke Harangody (Boston Celtics) watching the action. You can typically find them playing between 10 AM and Noon on most football Saturdays. Here's a link to some of the action from this Saturday's open gym:
It was 29 years ago this week that Gerry Faust was to embark on what he expected to be one of the great coaching runs in the history of Notre Dame football. Why wouldn' he? He had just left Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati after winning 178 of the 203 games he coached. He led the Crusaders to seven unbeaten seasons, four national prep titles, and five Ohio state titles in his last six seasons at Moeller. Well, if only Gerry could have kept his coaching career to one game at ND -- he would have retired on top. If you recall, Faust's Irish beat LSU in his first game as coach. The 27 - 9 Notre Dame victory over LSU (on September 12, 1981) combined with Minnesota's upset of then top ranked Michigan -- vaulted the Irish to the #1 ranking in the country. Unfortunately, Michigan was next on the schedule and Schembechler's Wolverines beat Notre Dame that week 25 - 7 -- and the honeymoon was over. Gerry did have some moments at Notre Dame in his five-year career; a win over #1 ranked Dan Marino led, Pitt Panthers in 1982, a 52 - 6 win over Purdue to start the 1983 season -- but a five-year career record of 30-26-1 led to his resignation. You can never deny that Gerry Faust loves Notre Dame -- and Notre Dame loves Gerry Faust. In fact, Coach Faust was at the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore this past Saturday (for the umpteenth time) signing copies of his book The Golden Dream. I don't think we'll be seeing Bob Davie, Ty Willingham or Charlie Weis -- anytime soon -- signing copies of their book about their Notre Dame experience, sitting in the stands at Notre Dame games or walking the campus on a football Saturday. These days, Gerry works as a motivational speaker -- click on the link below to see him tell a very funny story at a conference. There's also two links below to a two-part feature that ESPN ran in 2007 on Gerry Faust's career at Notre Dame - A MUST SEE. Coach Faust, will always be a favorite to many Notre Dame fans. To prove my point, here's a photo taken this Saturday morning of an Irish fan on campus, just hours before kick-off of the Brian Kelly era.
Looks like Notre Dame Football has a couple of new fans! Singers Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez, are seen here with their "IRISH ON" before yesterday's game at Notre Dame Stadium. Swift was in town to visit her brother Austin, who's a freshman at Notre Dame. Here's a link to a "gossip story" about Swift's visit to Rocco's for dinner last night. Photo courtesy of the South Bend Tribune.
The NFL required each of their teams to make their final cuts, yesterday, to reduce their team rosters down to 53 players by the 4 PM EST deadline. Now, you can still get cut this week or picked up by another team -- as teams make their final roster adjustments leading into the NFL's opening weekend. Here's an update on a few of the players who played for Notre Dame this past season that were "on the bubble." Click on their names for story:
Took this photo yesterday of "Farley" -- the official mascot of the University of Notre Dame's Farley Hall. Farley's Rector, Sr. Carrine Etheridge, IHM -- had Farley, in full uniform, taking in the scene in South Quad -- prior to yesterday's Notre Dame football game with Purdue. Where's Farley's helmet?
It's a day he'll never forget, September 4th, 2010 -- the day he led his Notre Dame Football team, for the first time, into historic Notre Dame Stadium. Coach Kelly has experienced a number of "firsts" these past 9 months since taking over as the 29th coach in the history of Notre Dame football -- yet, they all pale in comparison to his first victory at Notre Dame. Here's a video -- taken from Section 14 -- of some highlights from the first game in the Brian Kelly era at Notre Dame -- enjoy:
For the first time in the 123-year history or Notre Dame Football -- the Fighting Irish took the field for pre-game via the Notre Dame student section. Notre Dame Head Football Coach, Brian Kelly's Irish entered historic Notre Dame Stadium via Section 31 at approximately 2:40 PM EST. Here's a photo of Irish QB, Dayne Crist entering the Stadium and a link to a video of what it looked like from Section 14 as Notre Dame Football started a new tradition. Here's the link:
Shot this video yesterday afternoon of Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly and his Fighting Irish football team on their walk from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart to Notre Dame Stadium. One of the great traditions in college football. You have to wonder what Coach Kelly is thinking while experiencing this for the very first time as the Head Coach of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Here's a link to the video:
Folks, I'm about five minutes away from leaving Motown on my way to Notre Dame and our seats in Section 14. For those of you sitting at home today - here's a few things you might want to do:
Have been following the "tweets" from those in attendance. One "tweeter" had the crowd at 15,000 for the Pep Rally. This photo was "tweeted" forty-five minutes before the Pep Rally started. Coach Kelly announced a brand new tradition for Notre Dame Football -- tomorrow, before warm-ups, the Fighting Irish will enter Notre Dame Stadium from the Students Section onto the field. Keep an eye out for www.und.com -- I would suspect in the next 30 minutes they will post the video from the Pep Rally. Go Irish!
I promise you, you will never guess which college football game this season is the "most expensive" in college football! Tickets to this game are going for $583 per seat. It's the Notre Dame vs. Army game at Yankee Stadium in November! CNBC did a story on the ten most expensive tickets to get -- and here's their ranking -- followed by a link to the story:
He's a freshman football player at UCLA, who most thought -- including his Mom -- that he would be wearing the gold helmet of Notre Dame tomorrow against Purdue. You see, Anthony Barr is the son of a former ND football player (Tony Brooks) and St. Mary's grad (Lori Barr) -- yet, he chose to stay close to home and play for the Bruins. The Los Angeles Times ran a story yesterday on Barr's decision to pick UCLA over Notre Dame. Here's the link:
There's plenty to do Football Weekend at Notre Dame -- the fun begins today and runs through Sunday. Today's South Bend Tribune provides a "calendar" for ND Football fans -- see link below. And, don't forget to visit Notre Dame's GAME DAY SITE -- that link is below as well:
The University of Notre Dame's official website: www.nd.edu -- has a number of LIVE webcams on campus that allows you to take a look "24/7" at Notre Dame. Webcams are pointed at the Main Building (Golden Dome) and Basilica, South Quad, Clarke Memorial Fountain and a couple of the computer labs on campus. Maybe we can convince someone at ND to point the South Quad webcam at today's Pep Rally! Here's a link:
Former Notre Dame coaching great, Ara Parseghian, was a guest this week on WSBT 960 AM's Weekday SportsBeat. Here's a link to the Parseghian interview:
In case you missed it last night, here's a link to a replay of Notre Dame Head Football Coach, Brian Kelly's first radio show from Legends. As you plan your future "Thursday evenings" during the Notre Dame football season, please note that The Brian Kelly Radio Show will air every Thursday night at 7 PM EST. If you'd like to attend in person, you'll want to get to Legends by 5:30 PM to get a seat. Here' the link:
The 2010 Season kicks off tomorrow and I can't wait!!! For those of you fortunate enough to be on the Notre Dame campus today, here's a few of the activities you might want to take in: Walk Down The Tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium (10 AM to 3 PM) -- Trumpets in the Dome before The Band of the Fighting Irish's March Out (4 PM) in the Main Building -- Dillon Hall Pep Rally (6 PM) join the thousands (photo) in South Quad and Drummer's Circle -- Midnight, in front of the Main Building (Golden Dome). To get a look at all of the activities planned for Football Weekend at Notre Dame click on the link below to the ND Game Day site - it's good!:
Former Notre Dame All-American pitcher, Jeff Manship, threw four strong innings last night for the Minnesota Twins in their extra-inning loss to the Detroit Tigers (YEAH!). Manship entered the game in the 3rd after Twins starter Scott Baker complained of elbow pain. Jeff came in and gave up one run and struck out three in his four inning stint for Minnesota. On the year, Manship has a 2.38 ERA -- striking out 14 in his 22 innings pitched. Here's a link to his statistics:
University of Notre Dame Associate Professor of History and Peace Studies, Asher Kaufman says "very few believe" the talks in Washington D.C. yesterday between Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas will lead to peace. Yet, Kaufman does see some positives that could come from these talks -- and he should know. A member of the Notre Dame faculty since 2005, Kaufman previously taught at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and served as a research fellow at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, leading its Middle East Unit. Here's a link to some comments Kaufman made yesterday:
If you want to see seven Heisman Trophies -- the only place in the world where you'll see that many -- you'll now have to take a walk to the lobby of the Guglielmino Athletics Complex this weekend on the University of Notre Dame campus. Coach Kelly had the "Heismans" moved from the Monogram Room in Joyce to the "Gug." Football fans -- the GUG's main lobby will be open Friday and Saturday to see the Heismans. Chicago Tribune Notre Dame beatwriter, Brian Hamilton was kind enough to take this picture in the past hour and post it on Twitter. Thanks Brian!
Think again. This story in today's Salt Lake City Tribune speaks "honestly" to what it means for a college football program to schedule the University of Notre Dame. Here's the link:
Yesterday's announcement in Provo, UT that Brigham Young University was going "independent" in football -- did not go without significant influence from Notre Dame. Here's a link to a story in today's Salt Lake City Tribune in which the columnist now calls BYU "The Notre Dame of ESPN" and gives the announcement of BYU's six-game series with Notre Dame and the ESPN TV deal as all the credibility they need. Here's a link to a few of the stories on BYU following in Notre Dame's foot steps:
We're approaching 48 hours to kick-off and if you're like me -- it's dominating your thoughts. So, to get you ready for Saturday's game against Purdue -- here are some "outlets" for Notre Dame fans to get their IRISH ON, all day long -- today! Just click on the links and you'll be led to the conversation! Don't forget -- The Brian Kelly Radio Show is tonight at 7PM EST -- and it's being broadcast LIVE from Legends on the Notre Dame campus.
Friday, September 3rd has been declared as "College Colors Day" across America - and for the first time, the University of Notre Dame is participating. If you've visited the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore in the past couple of weeks you've seen a large "cut out" of Brian Kelly urging Notre Dame fans to show your school spirit tomorrow. So, Irish fans -- wear your Notre Dame "stuff" all day tomorrow - and wear it with pride!!! And, to prepare yourself for the conversations you're sure to have with fans from schools in the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 10, etc., -- I've provided you with a link to "FIVE TALKING POINTS" for every NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL FAN.
NBC announced today a number of "enhancements" to its coverage of Notre Dame Football - now in its 20th season. Those who choose to watch the game on the web -- will have exclusive access to an extra TV camera only available to web viewers. NBC also announced a distribution deal with EuroSport to broadcast the Notre Dame games in Europe and Asia. Here's a link to all that NBC has planned:
University of Notre Dame Basketball Coach, Mike Brey is a good sport! Coach Brey is participating in a fund-raising effort for the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Michiana. Click on the link below and vote for Coach Brey as the "best dressed man" in a kilt -- and maybe he'll be convinced to show off this look "courtside" this winter!
Former Notre Dame coaching great, Ara Parseghian will be a guest today on 960 AM's Weekday SportsBeat. Here's a link to the webcast -- when you get to their website, click on the LISTEN LIVE button at the top left corner of the home page. Coach Parseghian is expected on at 5:06 PM EST:
With final NFL cuts scheduled for this weekend -- teams had until 4 PM EST yesterday to cut their rosters to 75 players with the final cut to 53 players set for Saturday. FYI: There's presently six former Domers on this morning's Denver Broncos roster: Brady Quinn, Ryan Harris, David Bruton, Eric Olsen, Paul Duncan and Kyle McCarthy. Here's a quick update on where things currently stand for some of the more recent Notre Dame players in their attempt to earn a spot on an NFL roster:
Former Notre Dame All-American, Aaron Taylor, sat down with Brian Kelly for an interview yesterday. Here's a link to the video:
When you turn on your television set this Saturday afternoon to watch the Irish -- keep an eye out for a young man wearing uniform number 7. His name is Tai-ler "TJ" Jones and he's a FRESHMAN STARTING WIDE RECEIVER for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. What makes this story more special is TJ's dad -- Andre Jones, also wore #7 when he was a starting linebacker for the Irish and a member of the 1988 National Championship team. This photo was taken of the two at this year's Under Armour All-American game in Orlando. Here's a link to Irish Illustrated's interview of TJ after yesterday's practice -- and a link to a story from Irish Sports Daily back in January:
I'm sure many of you have yet to hear of a car service called Zipcar -- well it's quite unique. Zipcar has built a business around parking cars in populated areas and selling "memberships" to drive them -- whenever you need them. The University of Notre Dame has just entered an agreement with Zipcar that calls for four cars to be parked on campus for students, faculty and staff to use at their leisure -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All they have to do is become a member -- it's $35 to join -- and you'll have use of one of the four cars. It's $8 an hour to use the car and $66 per day. You must be 18 years old. Gas, insurance, emergency roadside assistance, etc., is all included with Zipcar. Zipcar also offers a fun and functional iPhone app that will honk the horn to locate a Zipcar and unlock the doors for members. Here's a link to the Zipcar website and the release announcing their relationship with Notre Dame.